go back

Museum of the Olive Civilization

Comune di Trevi
museum's guide

Foto: Michelangelo Spadoni

Oil Museum, Didactic section.

  Why “Museum of the olive civilization”?

The essential condition for the existence of olive cultivations is civilization comprised of a society of political and economical stability, as this type of cultivation requires complex botanical knowledge and time. Nomadic populations do not cultivate olives.

  Birth of the domestic olive:

- Neolithic (new stone)- it was quaternary- Holocene-, to be precise in the Eneolithic, which is the last part of the Neolithic, or in the age of copper 6000 years ago (age of metals, that is divided in 1. age of copper  2. Age of bronze- it is obtained by fusing copper with tin- 3. Age of iron)

  History of the domestic olive:

  1. Begins in 4000 B.C.,  in Syria (Iranian plateau- the most ancient remains found of an olive mill: Palestine), between civilizations such as the Egyptians (scented oils), Babylonians (Hammurabi code) and the Phoenicians, great navigators, who will spread the cultivation of olives in all of the “mare nostrum”- the Mediterranean Sea.
  2. IV century B.C. the Greeks (ancient Attica)  brought the cultivation of olives to Sicily (with the myth of Aristes, the Phoenician God who taught the cultivation of olives and the extraction of oil). The ancient civilizations attributed the birth of the olive tree to legends and myths: in Greece the birth of the first olive tree is credited to the mythological legend of the contest between Athena (Minerva for the Romans) and Poseidon (Neptune) for the possession of the ancient Attica (ancient Greece) that had Zeus as judge (Jupiter), father of Athena. The challenge was to be won by whoever could create the most useful thing: Poseidon created the horse, symbol of war and Athena created the olive plant, whose fruit was and still is of fundamental importance, thus symbol of peace. The contest was won by Athena, from which the name of the Greek capital derives; the legend acquired such an importance that Fidia (Architect) carved it into the frieze of the Parthenon.
  3. Before the Romans, the cultivation of olives (and grapes) was expanded, in smaller areas, by the Etruscans.
  4. Romans: the Romans were the first to spread the cultivation thoroughly, reaching Gaul, Spain and Portugal, as well as incrementing the commerce of oil; they were also the first to classify the different cultivars (variety of olives cultivated) The Romans  discovered 10 types (today 700 exist in Italy alone) this classification started with the best oil obtained by the green olive to the worst (that of Sansa) that was given to slaves.

Ancient populations such as the Greeks used to crown the head of Olympic victors with olive twigs, even giving them phials containing olive oil.

  1. In the Middle Ages there was a period of crisis for olive cultivation. In 476 A.D. the Roman empire collapses and barbaric tribes invade the territories. The local populations hide inside castle walls, the cultivation of olives is abandoned and substituted with that of oak, providing food for pigs, giving more wood and thickening forests, source of  survival at the time. The cultivation of olives survives thanks to monasteries and monks, who pass along the knowledge needed.
  2. Renaissance: myth of the ideal city, of the quality of life. Characteristic landscapes: the richness of olive plants just outside the city walls. There are many references in art and many miniatures explaining the gathering of olives and the extraction of olive oil.
  3. Crisis in 1600, under Spanish domination there is a considerable rise in tax on the production of olive oil.
  4. In 1700 the Spanish domination falls along with the taxes, thus the production resumes.
  5. Between the end of the 19th century and the  beginning of the 20th century a new crisis occurs, deriving from the fact that emigration towards other countries increases, causing a shortage in labour.
  6. Today olive oil is living a renaissance in its production, in its diffusion (olives are now planted in China), in its quality (DOP- Protected Denomination of Origin) and in its knowledge (medical properties- curative, and Mediterranean diet).

  Botanical information

  1. Difference in its bark: smooth when young and rough in older trees.
  2. Olive leaves: spear-shaped, superior part is olive green, while the underside is a colour close to white, giving the tree a silvery look when shaken by the wind.
  3. It is an evergreen tree, it also has leaves when it flowers.
  4. It requires a temperate climate (it could never be cultivated, for example, in England, in Norway…) and this means that to form itself and grow it needs much sunlight, it is supported by chlorophyll synthesis, converting sunlight into chemical energy through photosynthesis.

Archaeological Section

  1. Lighting- the oil lamp was the most widespread method of illumination in the past. Oil was burned in a container using a wick. It was used in the illumination of houses, temples, public buildings, acquiring importance also in burial rites as a gift accompanying the deceased, symbolizing entreaty and rebirth.
  2. Roman bronze strigil- metallic spatula used to rid the body of applied oil. Oil was used to cleanse the body, and was applied by Greek and Roman wrestlers to escape the grip of adversaries.
  3. Glass roman spatulas, used to obtain small quantities of balm from containers or to mix products.
  4. Mortar in terracotta to mix various products.

 

UMBRIAN OIL-MILL SECTION

In this room we see the reconstruction of an old Umbrian oil-mill with its equipment: the MILLSTONE, the PRESS- one vertical press, once activated by a lever, today presses are hydraulically driven; TWO OIL-JARS, Tuscan, in terracotta.

  OIL- MILL

  HARVEST- October- December.

Manual- BRUCATURA- with rake. Present and Past

Mechanic- Machine hugging, shaking the trunk, making olives fall. Present

Natural/Semi-mechanic- Machine shaking the foliage. Present.

AFTER THE HARVEST, WITHIN 48 HOURS, THE OLIVES ARE BROUGHT TO THE OLIVE-MILL AND THE PRODUCTION OF OIL BEGINS.

  1. Cleansing- twigs, leaves and stones are removed.
  2. Pressing- once a donkey-driven millstone was used. The drupe and the seed is crushed and an olive paste is obtained. This system was discontinued. Today, the pressing is conducted by hammers.
  3. Braking- The olive paste is repeatedly pressed to obtain a separation between oil and water molecules, gathering the oil in increasingly larger drops. Presently the extraction is mechanic.
  4. Extraction. Today it is obtained by a centrifuge, once with the press and discs made with coconut rope. The liquid that came from the press needed to separate from the vegetal water, thus it was placed in terracotta oil-jars.
  5. Decantation- Period of rest in the containers, in which the oil, being lighter than water, floated to the surface and could be collected. This last phase lead to the final separation of the OIL, the VEGETAL WATER (today vertical separators) and the HUSK OIL, the solid part of the oil. Present- centrifuge and conservation (stock phase) in containers of steel.

-          The rounded MILL was moved by animals such as asses and cows. Its weight crushed the olives. The erosion of stone caused by the crushing of olives against the stone floor could consume a mill in few decades.
The obtained paste was composed of the pulp and crushed seed.

-          Fiscoli- disc-shaped baskets in coconut fibre, made by a single woven rope (today fiscoli are made of synthetic materials and used once) were transferred into the press for the squeezing.
After squeezing vegetal water mixed with oil was extracted.

-          Oil-Jars: The obtained liquid was poured into the “dolium olearum” oil-jars, terracotta containers of various dimensions. The jars were used for the decantation of the oil.

Traduzione: Julian Izzo

NEWS